


forget me forgotten

by inkysapphic



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: F/F, Temporary Amnesia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:21:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 6,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25494532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkysapphic/pseuds/inkysapphic
Summary: After being saved from the garden waverley suffers from amnesia... right to just before wynonna arrived. "it's for the best."
Relationships: Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught
Kudos: 28





	1. out of the garden, into the fire

**Author's Note:**

> Hey!! i had posted this already because i thought i lost the OG document but i found it again!! enoy!! MJ

CHP1  
Out of the garden wynonna had returned, clutching a barely injured Waverley to her chest before letting her go and sliding to the floor. The sisters had escaped with minimal cuts and bruises, but Wynonna had been fighting relentlessly for several hours and was completely exhausted. After stumbling down the stairs, the younger brunette fell into the arms of her partner. 

“Waves! Baby! I’m so glad your safe! Are you okay? How's your-“  
“I’m sorry, do I know you?” 

Nicole looked for a hint of humour in her voice and found none. Waverley was completely serious. Nicole looked at her with deadly concern and loosened her grip so they were barely touching. Waverley pulled away. 

“Nic, I’m so sorry...” was murmured almost inaudible by the limp and wincing older sister. 

In an instant Nicole was storming up the stairs and frantically looking for an explanation. She’d never hurt Wynonna without cause, but in her desperation she clasped her hand around her throat and stared at her and tightened the grip. 

“What happened.”

Wynonna looked into Nicole’s eyes then directly at her sister; who’d been standing, frozen out of fear, and attempting to say something— anything, to get Nicole to stop. 

“You- you fucking tell me what happened, Wynonna!” Nicole’s eyes began spilling with tears of frustration and confusion. Each droplet streaming down her face before splintering on Wynonna’s. 

“I’m sorry, Nicole, I’m so sorry.” She forced her eyes shut and turned away from the sobbing Sheriff that was towering above her. Nicole gave one last tight squeeze against the sides of her throat before releasing her hands completely. She rolled over and lay uncomfortably next to Wynonna and let each tear fall and fall until they stained her shirt collar and her eyes began to sting. 

“Wynonna...” Waverley looked terrified, not of what had just happened... of Nicole. 

“Hey hey hey, I’m okay.” Wynonna sat up and propped herself up with her elbow while she smiled weakly

“See.”.


	2. the grieving process

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> nicole,, ouch

CHP2  
“I’m okay waves, seriously.” 

Were the first words spoken since they got out of the woods. After Nicole had reduced her sobs to gently falling tears, she made her way down the stone staircase and back to the snow. When passing waves at the bottom, the brunette flinched away and ran up the stairs to examine her sister. Once she was all checked out they walked to the exit. 

“Waverley, stop fretting, you know damn well it does no one good.” 

Wynonna had noticed Waverley tug at the bottom of her dress for the majority of the car journey but it had begun getting on her nerves. It was a habit that she only did when she was extremely anxious. Inside the car, both of the Earps were in the back while Nicole remained in the front seat. Though she would give anything in the world to curl up next to her... to Waverley, she trusted that giving her space was what she needed right now. So the silence came back and the only sounds were the subtle grind of tires against gravel as they pulled into the drive. 

“Why are we here? We haven’t been here since we were little, Wynonna.” 

Nicole sank further into her chair and cried a little harder. She just wanted answers, why doesn’t she remember. 

“We live here now, babygirl.”  
“Oh... Gus didn’t give me the memo..”

Nicole parked the police cruiser up against the barn outside the homestead before unlocking the doors and letting the girls out. Waverley made a dash to the front door before Nicole had even stepped outside and when she did she felt a tug against her jacket sleeve. 

“Do not frighten her like that again, do you hear me?”  
“Wynonna... what happened to her.” Nicole’s voice was hoarse from all the sobbing. 

Though she could feel Wynonna’s intense stare towards her, she stayed glaring at her feet and scowling. 

“Give me time, for now just leave. She doesn’t know you, Nicole.”.

Those words cut a large gaping hole through her chest. ‘She doesn’t know me’ she thought over and over, Wynonna’s blunt reply to the question she begged answers for. What could she do? Try choke Wynonna out until she gave her any relief? That would never work, an Earp is as stubborn as an ox. And though she tried to push it away to the back of her head, she saw the way Waves looked at her as she did it. Frozen, absolutely wracked with fear because of her. She was afraid of her.

Calamity Jane greeted Nicole as soon as she stepped in. She nudged at her palm and though it was probably an indicator she was hungry, Nicole took it as an empathetic gesture so she pulled her tight and nuzzled her tear-stained cheeks into the orange fur.

“Please don’t leave me too..” she said, forcing back the tears with every word. 

Nicole was 99% certain that her cat couldn’t understand her, but she repeated the phrase like her heart depended on it. Hours passed. She didn’t eat, she didn’t even leave the floor she was curled up on. The belt on her pants dig into her waist but she didn’t care. Eventually she would have to move, to pee or to shower or to drink some water, but for now she just... stayed. Her fingers tangled in the fur and slowly petting the cat, listening and feeling the vibration as it purred at her touch. She tried to push the memories of the countless nights she’d do this to Waverley’s hair so she could sleep. It didn’t work.

More time passed, the sun spilled through her windows and she had managed to tired herself out around 5 am and passed out. Calamity Jane had escaped her grasp to get some sleep of her own, leaving Nicole on the floor clutching her arms to her chest with a gap where Waverley should be.

Back at the homestead Wynonna had come up with a plan to explain why it was so clean and looked now habitable. Of course Waverley had questions, but she was more excited for her sister to final return home from Greece. She practically begged to be told the stories of the adventures Wynonna had taken part in.

“Yeah Greece was.. Greece was good..” Wynonna was distracted, searching high and low for any pictures of them all together, Nicole, Doc, Jeremy... Dolls. Everyone. She needed them erased. Waverley couldn’t know.

“Wynonna, come on, give me the juicy details.” She exaggerated a wink and leant over the kitchen table ready to listen of the lustful endeavours her sister went on.

Wynonna continued to hide photos behind bookshelves and memories in boxes, searching in any possible direction of the past since she’d come back to Purgatory. 

“I’ll be with you in a sec babygirl, I’m just doing some... spring cleaning.” 

She had found everything in plain sight and hidden them. A needed erase. 

“Don’t worry!” Called Waverley from another room, “Hey! What does my old room look like? Did you turn it into an office or something?”.

Shit. Wynonna ran up the stairs and reached the top just as Waverley opened the door.

“What.. is this stuff?”


	3. some explaining to do

CHP3  
Wynonna side stepped around their unmade bed and to the bedside table before grabbing the photo of her and Nicole and tucking into her pants. Waverley creased her brow in curiosity and ran her finger along the bed frame before jumping on the covers, burying her head into the mattress.   
“Mmm, this pillow smells like... vanilla dipped doughnuts.”.  
Haught.  
Wynonna’s face must’ve changed because her sister sat upright and mirrored the frown.   
“You’re not acting like yourself, you haven’t even touched a drink since we’ve got back and we’ve been here for twenty minutes.”

“Yeah, I know... don’t worry about it, let’s get you fixed up.” Wynonna managed to usher her out and back downstairs. Waves was right, the pillows did smell like vanilla dipped doughnuts, like Nicole, but she can’t drop that bomb just yet. Instead she got up and turned to look at the mess they would’ve been sleeping in two nights ago and she turned the light off one last time.

Days passed, Nicole had called in sick so much that the remaining officers had been making trips to her house once their shifts were over. Word travels quickly in Purgatory, Amnesia is what they were told. Sudden amnesia of the last three years. Everyone left was still afraid of Wynonna so followed their wishes of acting as if nothing had happened. This reached Nicole which of course made her spiral even more.

Waverley, on the other hand, was back serving pints to whoever entered shorty’s in need of one- crop tops as always. Nicole sometimes thought of what would happen if she tried to recreate that day- the off chance that the machine would break again and leave her in need of some assistance when the hair gets caught. But it was different now, Waves first impression was a stranger hugging her and calling her baby before choking out her older sister who she hadn’t seen in years. That was her first impression and of course it was all wrong.

Even Wynonna was concerned for Nicole, she knew the way she treated her was wrong but tough was the only way she could get through to her. Nicole knew that too.

The homestead remained busy though, Wynonna would stay and sleep there and Waverley- after Wynonna thoroughly swept it of any evidence- had gone back to her old room.

“I’m heading in the shower! Go outside! You’re all cooped up!” Waverley shouted downstairs as she grabbed a towel from the laundry room.  
“I’m just gonna camp up here until there’s a reason for me to leave. Enjoy the shower.” Waverley scoffed just as Wynonna predicted and she ran the hot water. Taking off her jeans and T-shirt before stepping in. This was the first time she’d actually showered, which she did believe was gross, but the water pipes weren’t working until The new plumber had fixed them that morning. His name was Henry, Waverley liked his moustache. 

The water ran over her body, and finally washed the cuts she’d gained as she left the woods that day. Of course she believes it was because she had fallen over a few times. Each cut was cleaned and treated finally and she began washing her hair, frothing up the bubbles until- she saw a scar she’d never seen before.

One light patch on her lower stomach, almost like an appendix removal scar in where it was, but it’s certainly not surgical. Water ran the bubbles through her hair and back to the floor before sucking them down the drain. She didn’t even notice them pass along her, the scar was something much more distracting.

After drying herself and getting out, she put on a bra and shorts and walked downstairs.  
“Woah woah woah!! Put your damn clothes on, Waves!”

“No no no, look at this” Waverley pointed to the scar. “Have you ever seen this before?”

Shit. 

“That scar?” Wynonna tried to look convincing.   
“Nope, maybe it was a kid thing or something?”

Waverley came around the couch and stood over Wynonna while looking at it more.

“I would’ve noticed it before now, though.” Wynonna looked around her and back at the TV.   
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Waverley flopped on the couch next to her. 

“Okay now what about this...” she went to the cabinet against the wall and pulled out a picture of her and Nicole.   
“What about this, Wynonna?” She started to sound more demanding. “This is the woman who choked you... why is she with me?! And I thought I remembered that smell, it’s her.” 

Double shit.

“I have to find her...” and before Wynonna could even get up, Waverley had taken the keys, locked the front door behind her and started to drive. 

Shit shit shit shit shit.


	4. nicole, get up

CHP4  
“But I love him!”  
“You don’t even know him!” Nicole replied back to the TV, digging her face further into the pillow she’d wrapped herself around. Over the last few days she’d barely moved; Haught was never a slob, but she was rapidly gaining a sweaty stink the more she lay on the couch. 

“I’m done. I’m fucking done.”   
She turned the show off and tossed the controller back on the coffee table before getting up and doing the same to the pillow. Her cat, woken from its sleep, tottered up behind her and nudged her towards the kitchen. Nicole should eat. 

She looked into the fridge and saw Oat milk and vegan butter and kale along with various other healthy eating options. She closed it and slumped against the cabinets. Takeout was an option, but she’d become sick of the greasiness of it. She could make something? “Something simple.” She thought as she reached into the nearby egg carton.

The hob was on and the oil spat and sizzled in the pan, the egg yolk broke within seconds of hitting the pan. 

“Come on…”. 

That was another one of Waverley’s talents, Nicole had never seen her split a yolk. 

Once it was done, she grabbed some bread and made a sandwich. Though it was only simple, it was the most productive thing she’d done in days. Nicole felt good. 

“Waverley! Waverley, I swear to god if you don’t get back here this minute I’m gonna light your ass on fire!”  
“Fine!”

Wynonna had been frantically calling Waverley since the second she left, of course Waves had ignored it, but she might as well attempt to find out what was going on. 

“Now, come back and talk to me.” 

Wynonna’s voice was wracked with caution but was masked with soft. It made her little sister clutch into the photograph just a little bit tighter. She had no idea who she was, this officer lady, but she felt something in her gut about her. Screaming at her for attention. 

Her gut said turn around- she’s dangerous. 

Who else would want to hurt someone in such a way as she did… well, it was Wynonna, but surely no one would do it with such frustration as she did. For a moment Waves flashed back to that moment, how she cowered in fear as the ginger wrapped her hands round Wynonna’s neck. With such- such anger and fury. 

She could practically hear Wynonna’s voice in her head.   
“She’s a bad person, turn around. You saw what she did to me, she might do that to you too. Let me handle it.”.

Wynonna is so certain she has the responsibility of handling and keeping everything under control she doesn’t even think of Waverley as an adult. In a way, this was how she could prove herself. Waverley wanted answers and she knew Wynonna would give her them, but they wouldn’t be the truth. She was smart, the drive to the station was short, but gave her enough time to think of what she’d do when approaching the redhead again.

She’d pretend to know, act like she was aware of the situation with the hopes of some truth coming through. Maybe she’d find out who she was to her. Surely not a stranger, a close friend maybe. Why else would she have a photo of them. That doesn’t explain her smell on the pillows, though. Waverley never had a problem sharing a bed during sleepovers as a kid so maybe it was that. Why doesn’t she remember her, though?

“Haught!”  
“Hey…”  
Nicole replied to the particularly chipper officer at the front desk. After making breakfast and taking a well-needed shower, she thought it was time to actually turn up to her job. Despite this she wasn’t ready to talk to anyone, really, nevermind someone as high energy as him. Nevertheless she flashed a polite smile and walked into the sheriff's office, avoiding anywhere with potential emotional reminders. 

The station was possibly the worst place for that. With moments like their first kiss in front of Wynonna, their first kiss in general and all the times when Waves would lean over her desk and kiss her softly. Being here was painful, it physically made Nicole ache to finally closed the door behind her. Alone, in the room where everything became certain, but now she’s more lost than ever. 

It was cold, the blinds were drawn and her desk was left untouched- she knew no one would come in after they heard what happened. Nicole thought of the man at the front desk and if his excitement was genuine or just a sympathetic attempt to reach out. Even if it was the first, she would go near him with a ten inch pole. 

With her absence Nic wanting to make sure that her return was almost like she never left; getting right to paperwork and settling back into routine. And right up until lunch it had worked. 

“Excuse me, Sheriff Haught?”   
The same blonde officer as before was leaning in the doorway immediately after knocking. Sitting down she would’ve never guessed how tall he was, his whole body blocked the gap in the door, covering almost everything behind it.   
“Yes, Officer Daniel?”  
She looked up from her computer and furrowed her brow. What did he want? Why was he only opening the door a little.  
“You’ve got-”.  
In that exact moment, Officer Daniels was pushed forward and narrowly escaped being trampled to the floor. Nicole stood up quickly and ran around her desk to help him up.

“This wouldn’t have happened if you just let me see her, you know?”


	5. oh god

CHP5  
Everybody tends to bend to Wynonna’s incessant phone calls, eventually. Even Nicole. 

In those days she spent depressed and confused, she had decided it was best if she avoids the Earp family completely. Ignoring the seemingly endless attempts at contact through the phone, she had reached the conclusion that it was best if Waverley continued to not know her. Maybe she could move on that way. Unfortunately, fate never seems to be in her favour and she had accidentally answered.

“Shit.”  
“Waverley is coming, get out of your house. She’s locked me in the homestead, you can’t let her see you. I know you want answers but-”  
“Fine, wynonna.” she sounded defeated. For a moment Nicole had thought she hung up with how quiet the line fell.  
“Well, that was easier than I thought…” Wynonna attempted to laugh to break tension but it was obvious it was forced.  
“What happened… please, i just need some peace of mind…”

By now, Nicole had gone from the kitchen after cleaning her plate of egg and crumbs and back to the comfort of her blankets. She placed the phone on speaker on the bedside table so she could bury her face in her pillows. She would do as Wynonna says, but only after a few more minutes of comfort.

“Come on, Haught stuff, you have to get up.”  
Nicole groaned and tossed over to the opposite side.  
“You’re an ass and you treated me like shit.” was murmured in response.  
“I had to… you’ve got to let her go, now.”  
“I am, this is- this is me letting her go.”   
This was when Nicole first admitted it was over. 

So she got up and left for the day, leaving her house in her uniform and drove the patrol car to the front car lot of her work. Upon arrival she saw Officer Daniels and from there she worked.

“This wouldn’t have happened if you just let me see her, you know?”

Nicole looked up from Daniel’s sprained wrist and her eyes widened instantly. 

It was Waverley, standing in the doorway with one hand in a tight fist and the other clutching a picture frame. She was awkwardly smiling and trying to keep up a “bad guy” attitude in order to attempt some dominance. It wasn’t working.

“What are you doing here?” 

Waverley’s tough act could never be an equal match to Nicole’s. She said the words in a sharp command through gritted teeth, losing the soft surprised expression she’d adorned to before. Of course she hated every second of it, but she’d broken the one rule Wynonna told her to follow. The only thing on her mind was get her out immediately and get her out without answering anything. Wave’s sorry attempt to hide that she was hurting made Nicole feel worse.

“That’s no way to talk to me…”  
“I know… i’m sorry.... Miss Earp, why are you here?”  
“Looking for you, silly.”

The preppy and excitable voice she talked with had returned, it threw Nicole off completely.

“Well, Officer Daniels, go wait outside and I’ll be there to fill out the accident form once we’re done here. This will not take long.” she shot a scowl in Waverley’s direction.

“Yes, sheriff.” He left.

“I have no idea how you’ve landed a job like this.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“I mean, surely a sheriff should be- I don’t know… nice?” 

Nicole scoffed and searched for an answer.

“Well, I happened to have a couple years on the force and the qualifications… is that all?”  
She had moved back to her desk and started looking at her computer screen to really push the fact she wasn’t interested in talking.

“Okay, well with your couple years on the force why don’t you explain this.”.

She finally released the picture onto the sheriff’s desk.

“Who are you…?”


	6. cut the bullsh*it

CHP6  
“I’m officer Haught- Sheriff Haught…” she still wasn’t used using to the title.  
“No, I mean, who are you to me?... clearly we’re friends… or something?”

Oh god, Waves doesn’t even know she’s bi…

The brunette sits down gingerly and pushes the frame a little closer; looking away distractedly before and attempting to focus on anything but Nicole’s intense yet warm stare. 

“Waverley i’m-… hold on, would you mind if I make a quick phone call?”.

The minute Waves’ head hesitantly nodded, Nicole rushed out of the office and called Wynonna.

“She’s there?! How could she go there?!”.

Wynonna had been drinking, of course she had, unfortunately this resulted in extremely slurred responses for Nicole to make sense of.

“You’re an idiot, she doesn’t even remember me, why would she go to my house?!”  
“I- I didn’t think of that…”.  
“I’m the idiot for thinking for doing what you said. So, what do I do now?”  
“Hold on…”.

There was a long pause, lots of heavy breathing and the loud smash of breaking glass. 

“Mother fucker!”.

Wynonna winced and clutched the hand her phone wasn’t in. She wasn’t certain if there were pieces of windows stuck in her knuckles, but didn’t really care. At this point she was fuelled on pure pent up rage and whiskey, neat. 

She managed to calm Nicole down and say she was fine, despite the blood pouring out of the cuts on her fingers and she kicked the rest of the window down with her boots. Not a mess she had time to clean up. 

“I’ve been gone a long time, wynonna, i need to get back in there so she isn’t spooked.”  
“Okay, okay, just-- just stall her and umm… I'll be there in a couple minutes, yeah.”.  
“You are not driving, let Daniels come get you.”  
“If hot new guy can get here in the next ten minutes that would be grand.”

Nicole waved for the officer and explained the situation. He’d fixed himself a momentary splint to fix his wrist and nodded before leaving. At least Nicole could take them both to the ER at the same time later. He waved before ducking into the cruiser and speed off with his lights on… not really legal, but this definitely was an urgent manner.

“Miss Earp, what are you doing underneath my desk…?”.   
“Would you believe me if I said spring cleaning?”.

She was on all fours and snooping around the desk cabinets, thankfully the information in those was strictly budget based and were filled with the town’s funding policies and more legal stuff sheriff’s are in control of. The draw was pushed back into the desk and Waverley sat on her knees, barely peeking over the desk and smiling playfully with hints of nerves.

“I mean,” Nicole moved from the door to the couch they had originally had their first kiss on, “It’s not like you’ll find anything other than the alarming amount of money that gets spent on the syrup exported here.”

“Purgatory peeps must really love their waffles.”

They shared a laugh and Nicole flashed her dimples for a brief moment. This was good. This was stalling.

“I mean, you’re right- there really is nothing in here.”  
“Sorry to be of no service to you, Miss.”

Waverley blushed a little and laughed to break the silence. Though it wasn’t really silent- there were still the usual station bustle around them- it still lingered a little too long. 

“If that’s all I think it’s time your visit comes to an end.”  
“Kicking me out so soon?” Waves teased back and started getting up.  
“Come on miss-”  
“Just call me Waverley you big formal weirdo…” she laughed again then instantly realised what she’d just said.  
“Oh my god! I am so sorry, Nicole!”  
“Please, Nic is fine.”  
“Nic is fine, hmm?” Wynonna burst in and pointed a bloody finger at the pair.

Wynonna looked at Nicole then back at her sister and continued repeating that a couple times like a comedic detective. No one was really sure what was going on, but one thing was certain and that was Wynonna needing immediate first aid and her absolutely wreaking of alcohol. 

“Waverley, car, now. Nicole, like… clear up your office or something.”.  
“On it.”

Waverley shyly waved Nicole away before being practically dragged back into the police cruiser. Once they left, Nicole walked back to finish up her work when she spotted the picture. She glanced at it for only a second before tucking it back into the draw by her feet.

“Finally something worth putting in these.” she muttered, though there was no one around her could hear it.


	7. dont remind me when she goes

CHP7  
“Let me-“  
“No!”  
“Just, give me your-“  
“No!!!”  
“Wynonna I’m pulling in 1… 2…”  
“Don’t you dare! Don’t you dare! Fucking hell!”

Waverley deposited the glass piece into a basin before going back with tweezers.

“Can we just… just give me a minute…” 

Wynonna clutched her hand and watched the blood turn the water an unnerving shade of pink- each glass piece landing with a clink at the bottom of the basin. 

“If you’d have just stayed--”  
“If you would have just listened! But you never do! I don't know what i expected..”

She planted the tweezers down with enough force to silence the room.

“I’m sorry” Waves paused to sigh then continued “I found nothing anyway…”

There was nothing else to say. Wynonna had heard what she wanted to hear and Waverley ruled it out as a mystery there’s no more evidence to help with. Cool cool cool cool cool.

Wait. 

Shit. 

“Daniels, go home! You’ve done enough for the day, more than enough. Go home! To your… dog?”  
He laughed and held his takeaway coffee cup a little tighter. They’d been sorting out the tickets and speeding- shocking no one that drunk driving was high in purgatory- it’d been enough to distract Nicole from…

“Waverley Earp. Oh boy, she’s a cutie.”  
A punch to the chest, no, a hole that she’d manage to ignore up until that moment when she felt the pit of her stomach collapse in on itself. A massive gaping hole putting her in a state of utter shock. After a full day of practically dismissing the existence of anyone but the other officer, hearing this made her feel instantly sick. There’d been moments like this coming and going since it happened but nothing as bad as this. It made it real. It made her real. 

How would he know, sure, it’s a small town and word travels fast, but if you’re new you hear none of it. She’s been there, she knows how the loop works. He has no idea about Waverley…

“You okay, sheriff? I should drive back…”

Nicole’s knuckles started turning white in a vice like grip against the steering wheel, concentrating on only the road- begging the world to melt away once more. 

The ride was silent all the way to the station, Daniels left in silence and left Nicole at the wheel of her cruiser. Silent until the door clicked shut.

“How could he-” her voice cracked and her body forced her to take a gulp of air. She slammed both hands on the parked car’s dashboard before biting down on the back of one. It stifled nothing. Nicole screamed against it, she was aching, she was in utter agony at the thought of her. The image of sunlight spilling against her sleeping partner, waves’ thick eyelashes closed and her completely at peace as she looked always before she would wake. Once an image Nicole would use to get her through the day, a reminder of the arms she would come home to- now it’s a catalyst to hyperventilating and screaming sobbing. Tears clouded her vision to the point it wasn’t safe to drive home just yet. Nicole wanted to rip out her heart, she didn't need it anymore. She didn't want it.


	8. nightmares

CHP8

“A purple dress, a hand on my waist- i looked happy. It doesn’t feel real.”  
“Waverley, you’re seeing things. I don’t know you.”  
“She doesn't know you”

A dark room full of voices, all of them too familiar. 

“Don’t do this to me…” Waverley replied to them all, weird, her mouth didn't move at all.

Then, a sudden spark of light. A hand- reaching. So she takes it.

“As long as you want me…” says a voice, muffled.

She felt warmth, the kind you’d feel hearing a love song and thinking about that one person that runs through your mind and heart too often to not matter.

Her fingers laced with the other’s and she felt at home.

“I will be by your side.”

The hand moved from hers to cup her cheek, warm and light following everywhere it reached. What was this hand, she knew it was a dream, but it was one she begged herself to believe.

“Please, stay…” her thoughts came out loud like she’d said them. 

In an instant it changed.

The hand flinched away and returned in the form of a lethal grip. The light had gone, the warmth had turned so cold it burned. She was trying to claw it away, trying to gasp for air, trying anything to get rid of this feeling. She was moving. This hand pulled her forward towards something, a staircase.

“She’ll lose so much…”  
“Do you want to lose her instead?”

“Hey, hey, hey. You’re okay, you’re okay, babygirl.”

Awake, bolt upright and crying. Wynonna was in her bed, stroking her head as she stained the front of her shirt in tears. She’d been screaming.

“I’m here, it’s alright. I’ve got you, it’s okay.”.


	9. A glimmer of hope

CH9

Wynonna was worried, it’d been an unnerving time since waves got up and she’d heard nothing since. She wouldn’t even talk to her.

“Knock…” wynonna announced as she walked in, as usual.  
“Go away” was said in reply. 

To her surprise, Waverley was dressed and looking significantly more like herself. She was always much better at being the fixer-upper. 

“You seem chipper, what’s up?”  
“I’ve got to go, I do have a job.”  
“Right…”  
“Well… I’ll be off then… I’m okay, don’t worry too much.”

She walked around the bed and playfully jabbed wynonna in the guts with her fingers as she passed her in the door. 

“Whatever you say, angel cakes.”

—

Ping. 

“Okay so I couldn’t find anything on your desk BUT I did find a business card. 

Who puts their personal number on business cards??”

Nicole woke to the gentle buzz of her alarm; an attempt to get back into routine. With blurry eyes she flipped over the phone, dismissed it and focused to see a text:

1hr ago- Waves <3

She couldn’t delete the contact, she couldn’t even look at the texts from before. There was such ease texting her before, allowing this bubble of messaging to be as cheesy as possible. But since the incident, Nicole wouldn’t dare look. 

“One hour ago? That’s like 6 AM, she’s only up that early if she’s restless.” 

Nicole said to herself, a quiet reminder of how much her actual routine involves Waverley. Ugh. 

She ignored it, obviously. One hour turned to two, then four. It wasn’t opened through brushing her teeth or eating her breakfast, not sitting in traffic or as she walked to the station from the cruiser. What could she say? Even if it were normal, it’s an awkward conversation starter. 

In one of the “vague and more-like-a-lecture wynonna” calls, she’d gotten told all the texts and photos were deleted. No surprise there. Still hurt though. Nicole had thought about it herself, but something in her is persistent that this isn’t final. Whatever it is. Some ray of hope. Some pattern, nothing in this town holds permanence- not even if you’re dead. 

“Nicole! How’re you doing, dude? … yeah, I heard…”

There was no reason for Jeremy to be in town anymore, the demon problem was sorted and the more everything turned to normal, the less interested he became. After the first week he was pretty much packed up and gone.

“The offer still stands, you know.”

He was talking about the apartment him and Robin had been renting- finally happy and out of danger and murder trees. It was in the next city over, a long bus trip away but close enough to visit if they found time. Time hasn’t found them just yet. 

“I know, Jeremy. It’s getting better.” No it wasn’t, she knew it and so did he, he felt it too. 

Over the years Jeremy and Waves knew each other, there was this instant click. It didn’t matter if wynonna was there, they could laugh about nothing and would relish in being hopeless romantics. Since she’s forgotten, Wynonna ruled him out. 

“Why’d you stay, Nicole?”  
“I just- there’s some hope. Just something.”  
“I know, I swear I’m researching from afar, but there’s been nothing on freaky staircases and sudden memory loss… well, there is, but that’s like ‘help! I fell down some stairs’ not ‘random set of stairs manifested in the local woods and’- I’m rambling… you understand.”

Nicole did have the option to leave. Despite her house, despite the relationship and the town she now felt more accepted in than she ever had. She would have packed up, if only this tiny glimmer of hope didn’t exist. It was the brightest thing she had now. 

“I’ve got to go… tell Doc to call soon. I miss him.”

The line clicked shut and Nicole sank back in the leather office chair. Doc wasn’t around much, wynonna’s been slowly introducing him to Waverley as a handyman. Waverley probably definitely thinks they’re screwing. Nicole hasn’t seen him around so the message won’t get through. Poor Jeremy, she gets losing someone to this more than most people. 

“Daniels, bring her in, she’s just going to make a mess that neither of us want to pick up. Trust me.”.

—

“Okay, not even seen. Who is this girl, Amish?”

Who’s ever not checked their phone on shift. Unfortunately, Waverley was practically glued to hers. Checking and double checking if the notification sounds were on. They were, and they stayed that way every time she checked. It didn’t matter, it made her feel like she was checking for a reason. 

“Too forward, was it too forward? No, she’s just… I don’t know. I don’t know her, yet. Maybe this is how she rolls, just… active then throws her phone into the nearest creek.”  
“Waverley! Break time!”

It wasn’t shorty, she was told on her first day back that he’d passed peacefully in his sleep. Bless him. There was new management, they seemed nice enough- gave her plenty of time if she asked. Did feel like she was being babied which she definitely wasn’t a fan of, though. 

“I’ll be back in twenty minutes; no more, no less.”  
“Take your time! Enjoy the rest.”  
“You’re too nice…”

She waved goodbye to those in the bar and knew exactly where to head. Assuming the new sheriff was a stickler for the rules, she certainly came off that way, the likelihood she was actually on her phone would be little. Which in her brain meant visiting time at the station. 

Much to her surprise, Wynonna was right at the front desk.


End file.
